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Friday should have been the last of the cooler and cloudy summer days Summit County has seen lately.

Due to a ridge of high pressure beginning to build over the state, the temperatures should be bounding back into the lower 70s starting Sunday and Monday, according to Kyle Frebin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.

"It's definitely going to warm up for the next seven to 10 days," he said. "I don't really see much as far as a storm system moving across the state."

Overall, it's looking like nice late summer weather for the High Country, Frebin said.

Moving into September, the nights and mornings will start to get chillier, tripping the aspen trees to turn orange. Frebin predicts a good chance of above-normal temperatures for September to November; precipitation looks like it should be near average during that time frame, he said.

The probability of seeing an El Nino year for the upcoming ski season has some local ski areas hoping for an improvement over last year's dismal season, with opening dates anywhere from mid-October to December.

According to the National Weather Service's average for first snowfalls during weak, moderate and strong El Nino conditions, the first snowfall in Breckenridge usually falls around Oct. 2.

El Nino is the weather pattern set by warmer temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, creating colder conditions with more moisture. La Nina is the exact opposite - set in motion by cooler ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific which in turn, puts Summit County in a path less traveled by storms.

In Colorado, the eastern plains have the best chances of moisture from October 2012 to June 2013, according to Klaus Wolter, a climatologist who makes long-range forecasts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder. But things still may bode well for the mountains.

"In fact, one could argue that the northern Front Range and Rocky Mountains may end up with the wettest outcome," Wolter said recently.